Winnie's new friend

Lottie the Otter is Winnie the Pooh's new friend, in the new book written by David Benedictus and illustrated by Mark Burgess, and approved by the Pooh Trustees, it is called "The Return to the Hundred Acre Wood." In the course of “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” the publisher said, Lottie takes a swim in Christopher Robin’s bath, helps to set up a school for the denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood, and turns out to be great at cricket. Last night Seth Meyers did a controversial joke on Saturday Night Live, saying she would replace Eeyore because he 'finally did it,' showing an illustration of a fallen chair and the famously depressed donkey hanging. The audience groaned and booed, Seth then added, "It could have been sexual asphyxiation."

The Neverending Story of the Neverending Story

The Kennedy/Marshall Co. (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Leonardo DiCaprio's company Appian Way are in discussions with Warner Bros. about reviving the 25-year-old franchise with a modern spin. The studio recently acquired rights to the property, clearing the way for a potential remake. The new film--which original producer Dieter Geissler--will examine the more nuanced details of the book that were glossed over in the first film, that was directed by Wolfgang Petersen. -Coming Soon.net

I personally would like it for a remake to be closer to the book. I as a child, first saw the movie and fell in love with it. I felt a lot in common with the main character Bastian. And I had a crush on Noah Hathaway who played the Ateryu. I read the book later as a teenager and fell more in trance. The book goes more indepth into the story. The sequel movie wasn't as great, it tried to pick up on some parts later in the book but felt empty and without heart. The third movie went off on a tangent and had no creativity at all, it had the imaginary characters traveling to the real world, it was done in the mid-90's but looked like something out of a bad 80's movie. It was straight to VHS and thank god it was. There was a Neverending Story cartoon and Neverending Story series that went completely off tangent and was no way near the spirit of the original book. The cartoon was bland and not creative, the series added new characters and looked like a different animal.

The book was written by Michael Ende, a German author and he didn't like the first movie. Imagine if he ever saw the third one, he would have rolled in his grave.--well the third one came out in 1994 and he died in 1995 so maybe it had something to do with it. The book dealt with a young boy who loved books and had no friends and stole this book from a book store owner and he started being incorporated into the plot. He found out he was part of the story. Where the movie left out, at Bastian giving the Childlike Empress a name, but before he did so, she had to go to the man who was writing everything that was happening and everything she said, he wrote and it was a really interesting metaphysical scene. Bastian makes himself an avatar of sorts, changes his image and makes wishes that come true in Fantasica, everytime he makes a wish, he looses a memory and finds out there are more like him, that all have forgotten their memories. In the end, Bastian becomes himself again, a chubby little boy, faces his fears and befriends the book store keeper who also went through a similar experience. Great book.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist BOOK review

I loved the movie so I had to check out the book. The book turns out to be for adolescents but has more curse words than the movie. You know how when books turn into movies. they have the poster or logo of the movie on the cover? I have a Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump that is like that. Now, what was weird is that the movie-cover version of the book was a dollar cheaper than the original cover! It is the same book, only that this one contains 8 color pages of pictures from the movie. They are basic ones you can find on IMDB but it nice to see them glossy. The book is told in first-person from Nick and Norah. one chapter is Nick and another is Norah and so on, so on.

Of course there are going to be changes, there is a lot of changes in fact. The biggest is that in the movie, Norah is the one who initiates to kiss Nick, but in the book Nick is the one to initiate it. Thom has a boyfriend in the book, his name is Scot. In the movie, Thom is boyfriend-less. There is not much characterization of Thom in the book, in the movie he's Asian, this is not mentioned in the book. There is a lot over the 'h' in his name, which he added and a delightful rant between him and Norah in which she says her name is Pnorah but the 'P' is silent. Dev doesn't have a boyfriend and flirts around. In fact, Dev is the reason why they have no drummer. He is the dog and you can kind of feel that in the movie. In the movie, Dev is the one who gives Norah a pep talk and gives her a bra. In the book, Thom does the talk, no bra, no uniboob but he does give her 5 dollars! I am surprised she wasn't insulted to be like a hooker. But Thom's intentions were noble.

In the movie, Dev's potential guy Lothario is the one who has the jumper cables around his neck like a boa, but in the book it is Scot. In the book, Dev is the one who holds Nick's hand and quotes the Beatles. In the movie, it is Thom, I am glad it is their incarination fo Thom, it gave him more to do. So bascially, in the book we were shown Thom in a steady relationship and Dev being the flower bee, in the movie Thom is single and Dev is in a potential relationship. The movie has been congruatled for Nick's attitude around his gay friends, having no qualms about being called gay or holding a guy's hand. Nick, in his inner monologue does express that he has no problem about, it kind of feel as though he is trying to explain himself to the straight aduience. I feel that for the character of Nick, he wouldn't be thinking that. The chapters of Nick and Norah is hard to tell if they are being dictated or writing in their journal, for sure it is not 100% their inner monologue.

The narrative is erratic, there is a lot fo run-on sentences, but it is very authentic to teenagers. there is a lot of information that I find as filler and just a range of up-and-down emotions that gets tiring. The book starts out at the Fuckoff's show (in the movie, they are the Jackoffs) where Nick spots Tris and then kisses Norah. The movie starts before that. They were smart to do that. When chapter ends, one character might start right where the other ended or a few minutes before to share the moment on their two points of view or go off on a slight tangent. There are few flashbacks, if they can call that because they are short. The Where's Fluffy show is not at the end but the middle, they attend it and both feel their love for them is ruined. There is no real search for them, but I love that in the movie there is. I also like that they miss the show and we never really see the band, brilliant--it can be anyone's dream band.

Norah's friend Caroline doesn't get lost, she is described a lot but not much action happens to her in present time. But there was a lot of her charater description that was picked up to be in the movie. Unfortunately or Fortunately, there is no throw-up-cellphone-in-toilet-recycled-gum scene in the book! Triss is less a caricature, more caring. The real reason she broke up with Nick was he was head over heals in love with her and she didn't feel the same way and wanted him to find his love one. She does try to sabotage the two but not as much as in the movie. It is also revealed that when Norah had a pregnancy scare over Tal, Tris was there for her. Norah's ex Tal appears earlier than he does in the movie and appears in shorter scenes that he does in the movie. He is more of a jerk and doesn't really persue Norah as much. When the parents don't physically appear in the movie, Norah's father does talk to her on the phone.

I also got to mention that Nick is a bit more confident than in the movie. Norah is the same fiery smart quick-glib girl but a little mroe aware of herself and she is her worst enemy, she is the hardest on herself. What I do like about the book although it has messy sentences and narrative, the dialouge is key, it does move the story along. I love when dialouge does that. In the end, both the movie and the book are worth a look and their own creatures. Very creative and musical creative beasts. And funny! I am SO glad that the movie kept that Norah is Jewish and that Nick is a non-queer bassist in a queercore band. The movie COULD have made it a big conflict of that fact but THANK GOD they didn't. Also got to add that for a Jew, Norah sure does say 'Jesus' a lot in the book.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Review

Spoiler Free
Quite an enjoyable book if I may say so myself. In many stories that lead to their end, many times there is new characters and new concepts and they just don't feel part of the world. J.K. Rowling has successfully added many concepts and characters that seem right. Also many questions are answered as well. Much like the past books, this one does drag on sometimes and a boat load of information that is not exactly essential to the story. I personally loved the book, all together, I don't understand these fans that are disappointed but that is expected. The characters mature of course, much like the other books. Harry, as rebellious as he was when he was in book 5 but a level more of maturity. As usual, he does get sidetracked, Hermione warns him to stay in line but he is corrected once again. The death rate is pretty high and appropriately so. Even though this novel is darker than the others, there is still time for the usual whimsy and cutesy-ness. Of course, not as much as before but still present nonetheless. I believe everything really nicely fit in place. Like Rowling said in an interview, it basically wrote itself, it felt right.

If You Finished Reading the Book
I never liked Dumbledore coming in and explaining everything to the protagonist at the end of each novel (come on! He does!). So, since was disposed of in the last book (even though that doesn't mean much in the Harry Potter world)--I was glad I wouldn't have to read a long explanation. Boy, was I was mistaken. Even though the defeat of You-Know-Who felt a bit cliche and not tighten, I have an inkling Rowling hadn't changed it since she wrote it. Now as for the Epilogue, I guess people are upset about it because it didn't have a lot of information. I guess it was strange because she always gave excruciating details to everything else. Now, I was pretty much at peace about who died except for that poor Teddy's parents, left orphan. I guess Rowling wanted to leave someone orphan. And even though we pretty much deduced what the seventh Horcrux would be--she wrote it so beautifully. And the loopholes were pretty nice. Yeah it took me like 12 hours (with breaks and such) out of 2 days.


If you never plan to read the Books
Screw you! Read the book!

Excitement over Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

You may already know that I review almost everything I see in the theaters or rent or buy, and tomorrow I will hopefully be receiving the seventh and final novel 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' from Amazon. Now, of course it will take me time to read the book. I am a slow reader, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' took me nine days to read (well with breaks and work of course). I still haven't decided if I will post a review or not.

Also, I would like to say that is the FIRST time I have not spoiled myself before reading/watching something. Most movies or television shows, I find out as much information as I can before I watch it. For example, for the Buffy series finale I read the script online and saw spoiler-y pictures before I saw the episode. Now in this case, I haven't searched a thing, I haven't read the New York Times review, zlitch. Yes, this is a book, but it is just the same. I am so anticipating this and can't wait to read J.K.'s wonderful words. Oh also, I don't care if anyone dies and who dies. If they die, I am sure it is for a valid reason and it will all make sense. I think what is the best of stories like these is how it effects the characters in their cores. It is all about the journey. Fans have followed these characters from their prepubescent years to near adult age and they feel for these characters and want the best for them. What they went through, we have. What makes the best sci-fi story are these elements, what grounds it in reality.

Jack and Lem Book Review

When the records and accounts of John F. Kennedy are read, a certain individual by the name of Lem Billings is mentioned and that is where it ends. Some biographies just describe him as JFK's childhood friend from Choate (high school) and ends at that. But he was actually there in the White House until Jack (how he is called throughout the book) died. It is rarely known or even publicly knowledged that Kirk LeMoyne Billings (Lem's full name) was gay. Well the word 'gay' is thrown around a lot, I find the word 'homosexual' too medical but in the end, he wasn't really out of the closet. This all comes from the book Jack and Lem by David Pitts. David Pitts was crazy about Jack and kept coming across Lem's name and did some more research and this book developed.

Saying Jack and Lem were best friends doesn't give their relationship justice, the author and I agree that they were life partners, not in a sexual manner but they were always there for each other. Lem was Jack's number #1 go-to guy and Jack was pretty much the love of Lem's life. They met in the 30's as teenagers in an all boy school. And as commonly known among gay men, straight boys will play around and would jack off in front of each other or have a masturbation circle. Now, the book details about a ritual if one boy wanted to engage with another boy, he would write a note on toilet paper because it is so easily disposable. Such a note from Lem to Jack existed and briefly mentioned by Jack in a letter to Lem, basically a off-the-collar rejection. No one knows what was written on the toilet paper but those two.

Lem was an attractive individual when he was young but Jack ripped on him about his looks and how women weren't interested in him. The author Pitts deduces that Jack did know Lem was gay and accepted and still want to be his friend. Lem frequently spent time at the Kennedy estates to the point that Teddy Kennedy realized he wasn't his older brother until he was three years old. Jack's parents considered Lem like a son and often wrote recommendation letters for him. After Jack's death, Lem became close to Jack's brother Robert, they weren't as close as he was with Jack but Robert's death did effect him. Lem still stayed close to the Kennedys. Lem had a squeaky voice and always made people laugh with his sardonic humor. With a high pressure family like the Kennedys where when an older son died, the next son felt it was his duty to fulfill the political dream (which was thrust upon not only on Robert but on Jack after Joseph died in 1944)--the Kennedys relaxed with Lem. Lem kept their mind off things. Especially for Jackie and Jack in the White House, they enjoyed having him around.

Lem had his own room in the White House. The guards and secret service knew who he was and he had no pass the whole time he was there. Some people thought he was secret service. After Jack and Robert died, Lem put it on himself to educate the young Kennedys about Jack and Robert, because the older Kennedys felt talking about them when they were alive was too sad. Lem even took Bobby Jr. under his wing for a while. The Wikipedia article is just a few sentences and it does mention Jackie didn't want Lem around at the kids in the end because he was an alcoholic. The book doesn't mention this but it does mention that Lem did get depend on alcohol because he was depressed and heartbroken. Jackie and Lem's relationship was love and hate, sometimes they didn't get along but they got along because of their love for Jack. It is also little known that Lem was the one to encourage Jackie to refurnish the White House.

The book gets a bit repetitive, redundant if you will but it is a sweet fascinating story. I admit I was expecting a little bit more about Lem's personal life but it happens that he was very discreet. Advocate Magazine, in which I learned about the book, believes Lem was sort of protected within the silence regarding gay people, because no one questioned the President if his best friend and constant companion was gay, they probably speculated but never mentioned it. The most sexual encounters that are mentioned are JFK's, his constant womanizing and various ladies. Curiously, Marilyn Monroe is not mentioned in the book. In the early days, Jack would send Lem to fetch his women and in some cases, break up with them for him. I never was really interested in Jack before this book and learned a lot about him. I had no idea how rebellious he was. Lem and Jack were considered rebellious in Choate as they were part of a group referred to as 'The Muckers." Maybe in a nerdy way, Jack's act of rebellion was to sneak into Germany when no American could.

The book does mentioned some men Lem was probably with, but no real details. There is one chapter that details about being gay in America, basic stuff I know about Stonewall; and how Lem did think about what impact it would be if he came out, being close to the Kennedys and all. He really wasn't a public figure, till today not many knew he was Jack's close friend. But back then, it might have made waves if people found out that the President's best friend was gay and had his own room in the White House. The chapter on gay life sort of makes up for the lack of mentioning of it in the middle of the book. The author is very open minded and handles the subjects of gender, sexual orientation and identity with dignity and respect. Lem died in 1981 of an heart attack at home and some believe his heart had been broken for a long time. Many personal friends said he was heart broken after Jack died, even more after Robert did. Lem's dying wish was for his casket to be carried and lowered in the plot by the Kennedy boys. When they arrived to the cemetery, they found the casket already in place. So to honor his memory, they took it out, took it around and then lowered in the plot. Jack and Lem's relationship wasn't scandalous or anything, but dependent. How Pitts eloquently puts it, theirs was a life partnership but not sexual. I think it shows how a great man Jack was, that his close friend was gay and he didn't matter to him.

Harry Potter and the bad book cover

The highly anticipated final novel in the Harry Potter series is due in July and now the front cover illustrations are out.

I always felt they drew Harry Potter way too young than he should be on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but maybe I'm basing that on the movies. I always felt the British Bloomsbury covers were better than the Scholastic ones.

But unfortunately this time, the Bloomsmury cover sucks. Hermione and Ron look ridiculous and this is suppose to be when we take them seriously because they have been through so much and Hermione looks like some harlot out of a Judy Bloom book. And in the Scholastic book, the font for 'Deathly Hallows' looks so lazy.